Page 116 of Camera Stays On

I had to get away from the box without bumping into Sawyer as I headed toward Andi. On my journey through the dark, I heard a door screech open and Sawyer swear as he immediately started bumping into things. I pressed myself against the wall and sidled along as he went past me—thankfully not close enough to catch my heat or scent.

Managing to slip into the bunker where Andi was being held, I felt my way through to the other room and called to her.

“Andi! Andi, are you still in here?”

“Asher? Oh thank God!” she choked out. “I thought you were dead!”

I rushed to the sound of her voice and dropped down when I bumped into her chair.

“I’m not. Shh. Let’s get you out of here.” I felt around to see how he had her attached. Shackles around her ankles and chains wrapped around her middle. Fuck.

“Hurry!” she hissed.

“Brace yourself.” I tilted her chair back far enough to get the shackles to slide down the legs. Setting her back on all four legs, I studied the chains around her torso and saw they were only loosely tied in the back. Quickly, I moved to untie her and then tossed the chains off to the side, before reaching for her hand and pulling her to standing. “We’ll find the keys later. Let’s go.”

Just then, the lights turned back on, and I winced at the harshness.

“Asher!” she squeaked.

“I know, it’s okay.” Looking around, I pulled her toward the door, opening it and pushing her into a hallway. When I went to shut it behind us, I found that it locked from the inside. Finally, a stroke of luck. I turned the lock, and we started down the hall.

“You should have kissed me.” Tears slid down Andi ‘s cheeks as we walked. “That night before the wedding. You should have kissed me.”

I frowned. Why was she thinking about that when she’d just been subjected to the video of me killing someone? Didn’t it bother her? I’d never wanted her to know, for fear she’d hate me and turn me in, but she was more concerned about what I didn’t do than what I did. Something that, by all intents and purposes, was far less terrifying but almost more devastating.

“I was a coward,” I said as we darted into a kitchen.

“I went home that night and decided if I couldn’t have you, I’d rather you have you, so I made that video and showed it to Sawyer. The joy I felt when you ran down that aisle, and then later, when I heard you’d thrown off this stupid dress and left town? I was so proud of you, Andi. You got out.”

She sniffled and shook her head. “You know, I was upset because I never asked you to do that. But hearing you talk about it...I don’t know if I ever would have admitted it to myself. I needed the option of marrying Sawyer to be taken from me. Thank you.” She embraced me tightly.

“But you still should have kissed me. I might have stayed.”

“Then I’m glad I didn’t.”

“I did so much after I left.” She laughed through her tears.

“Tell me,” I urged as I started going through drawers, looking for something to arm ourselves. Once we went upstairs, we’d be thrown to the wolves—or rather, Juliet and Mick, still roaming around.

“Well.” She stood. “I didn’t get to L.A. like I’d hoped. I went straight to Chicago. Took the train. I was truly free for the first time in my life. I didn’t care that I was poor and struggling. It was liberating. I could wear what I wanted, watch what I wanted, do what I wanted. Ash, thank you.”

I paused and looked at her. If by chance we got out alive, did we have a future as a couple, or were we simply trauma-bonded? Could I convince her to stay, after having lived such an amazing life somewhere else?

Would she still want me when it wasn’t life or death?

My gaze met hers, and a slow smile crept over her lips. She came to me, putting her arms around me and resting her head on my chest.

“Ash, I wish you’d told me how you felt years ago. If I’d known you were an option, I would have stayed,” she said, as if reading my mind.

I swallowed hard. “And what about...after this? Would you consider staying?”

I didn’t know where we’d go. If we were alive, that meant Sawyer was either in jail or dead. He’d sold the house we’d been living in, and all my money had gone into buying this fucking place. I certainly wasn’t going to live here now.

“I’ll consider it.” She smiled and stood on her tiptoes to kiss me. “I mean, we are technically married.”

That’s right. It was me who signed the license, not Sawyer. And she’d signed her real name too. If we turned that in to the county clerk, would that make it official?

I pulled back. “We need to get out of here, but Mick and Juliet are still upstairs, ready to strike. Let’s find weapons to defend ourselves.”